''Banjo, of the Overflow'' is a poem by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n poet

Francis Kenna Francis Kenna (21 September 1865 – 23 June 1932), was an Australian poet, journalist, and Labor Member of the Legislative Assembly in Queensland. He edited the "Brisbane Worker". He published Banjo, of the Overflow, a parody of Banjo Paterso ...

. It was first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine on 27 August 1892 in reply to fellow poets

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

and

Edward Dyson Edward George Dyson (4 March 1865 – 22 August 1931), or 'Ted' Dyson, was an Australian journalist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He was the elder brother of illustrators Will Dyson (1880–1938) and Ambrose Dyson (1876–1913), w ...

. This poem formed part of the

Bulletin Debate The "''Bulletin'' Debate" was a well-publicised dispute in '' The Bulletin'' magazine between two of Australia's best known writers and poets, Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. The debate took place via a series of poems about the merits of livin ...

, a series of works by Lawson, Paterson, and others, about the true nature of life in the Australian bush. In '' Up The Country,'' Lawson had criticised "City Bushmen" such as Banjo Paterson who tended to romanticise bush life. Paterson, in turn, accused Lawson of representing bush life as nothing but doom and gloom. Kenna's poem is a parody of Paterson's popular work, ''

Clancy of the Overflow "Clancy of the Overflow" is a poem by Banjo Paterson, first published in '' The Bulletin'', an Australian news magazine, on 21 December 1889. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, and is one of his best-known w ...

'', playfully pointing out the irony of a city-dweller writing poems about life in the country. The author of the poem was initially credited only as "K."Banjo, of the Overflow
Retrieved 7 June 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banjo, Of The Overflow 1892 poems Australian poems Bulletin Debate Works originally published in The Bulletin (Australian periodical)

See also

References